Drier for macaroni



AFPLlCATlON FILED JA N.8.1919.

vP. DE MARTINI.

DRIER FOR MACARONI, m.

Patented June 24, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET L INVENTOR Pall D martini, c7 2 QATTORNEYSHI P. DE MARTINI.

DRIER FOR MACARONI, fiLc.

- APPLICATION -HLED JAN. 8, 1919.

Patented June 24:, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Paul D PAUL DE MARTINI, F JAMAICA, NEW YORK.

DRIER FOR MACARONI, 8w.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 24, 1919.

Application filed January 8, 1919. Serial No. 270,132.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PAUL DE MARTINI, a

citizen of the United States, residing at' Jamaica, in the county of Queens and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Driers for Macaroni, &c.; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,

and to characters of reference marked thereon, which forma partof this specification.

The present invention has reference, generally, to improvements in drying apparatus, and with respect to its more specific features,

to' apparatus adapted more particularly to the drying of certain forms of dough products, such as macaroni, spaghetti, etc.

One of the principal objects of the invention is to provide a novel drying room or cabinet having novel means for "circulating,

and controlling the flow of air currents therethrough, whereby the product to be dried is subjected to the influence of moving air in a manner adapted to drive off the moisture by properly controlled circulation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel arrangement and construction of air circulating fans adapted to best distribute and diffuse the moving air currents generated thereby into desired contact with the mass of product throughout the interior of the drying room or cabinet.

Other objects of the present invention, not at this time more particularly enumerated, will be clearly understood from the follow.- ing detailed description of the invention.

The invention accordingly consists in the several features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangement of parts, as Well as in certain details of construction of said parts, all of which will be hereinafter more fully described 'in the following specification, and then defined in the folfollowing claims.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an end elevation of the novel drying apparatus, illustrating one form of air admission and emission means for controlling the flow of air into and out of the 3 is a vertical cross section taken on line 33 in said Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a partial end elevation of the novel drying apparatus, illustrating a modified form of air admission and emission means for controlling the flow of air into and out of the same; Fig. 5 is a detail vertical section, taken on line 5-5 in said Fig. 4; and Fig. 6 is a similar detail vertical section, taken on line 66 in said Fig. 4.

- Similar characters of referenceare employed in all of the hereinabove described views, to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now to said drawings, the reference numeral'l indicates the encompassing Wall of a drying chamber 2 in which the 17:-

With suitable doors 3 giving access to the ins terior thereof. I

Positioned Within the chamber 2, so as extend transversely therethrough, on either side of an air circulating means to be subsequently described, are racks 4 for supporting rack-rods 5 which bear, in suspended relation thereto, the macaroni, spaghetti 6', etc., which is to be dried.

The end walls of the drying chamber 2 are constructed to provide regulatable air admitting and emitting means. Such means comprises a suitable frame-work 6 which divides the surface area of the respective end Walls into a plurality of rectangular openings 7. Secured at their upper marginal edges by hinges 8 to the frame-work 6, so as to normally close said openings 7, are outwardly opening panels 9, each panel having a stay device 10, which when engaged with a stop device 11, attached to the framework 6 within each opening, serves to hold the said panels open relative to the respective openings 7 with which they are associated. The openings 7 in the aggregate are substantially equivalent in area to the entire end area of the drying chamber 2. Said openings 7 may be made of any desired area, consequently may be increased or decreased in number within the entire end area of the drying chamber to be closed thereby, as may seem most convenient and suitable to the location and size of the novel drying apparatus.

The reference numeral 12 indicates a pair of transverse longitudinally spaced supporting frames placed within the drying chamber 2 intermediate its ends, and upon which is supported and mounted a novel construc-. tion of air circulating means for generating the desired flow of air currents through the said drying chamber 2. The novel air circulating means comprises a central air driving fan 13, a pair of vertically disposed and spaced air driving fans 1% and 14, one above and one below said central fan, and a pair of transversely disposed and spaced air driving fans 15 and 15, one on one side and the other on the other side of said central fan. The said central fan 13 is preferably of smaller diameter than are the outlying fans 14, 14:. 15 and 15, the latter all being of equal diameter. Said fans are all mounted to rotate in a transverse plane relative to the interior of the drying chamber. Said fan 13 is mounted upon a main rotatable shaft 16 supported by bearings 17 mounted upon the respective supporting frames 12. Fired on said shaft 16 is a pulley 18 over wh ch runs a main driving belt 19, the latter being driven by an electric motor 20, or from any other suitable source of power, either within or without the drying chamber 2. The respective outlying fans are mounted upon respectively outwardly spaced rotatable shafts 21 supported by bearings 22 mounted upon the respective supporting frames 12. Fixed upon said main shaft 16 are pulleys, respectively indicated by the reference-characters 23, 2-l, 25 and 26. Fixed on the shafts of each of said outlying fans is a driven pulley 27 of larger diameter than the driving pulleys above mentioned. Driven by the respective driving pulleys 23, 24, 25 and 26 are driving belts 28, 29, 30 and 31, which respectively run to and over the respective driven pulleys 27 of each outlying fan, whereby the latter are rotated simultaneously with said central fan 13, but at a considerably slower speed.

In operation the central fan, being more rapidly driven, generates a more swlftly moving central longitudinally directed air current or flow through the drying chamber, the air being drawn in at one end'of the chamber and expelled at the opposite end thereof, while the outlying fans, being more slowly driven, generate more slowly moving parallel air currents about the central current. The pressure of the swift moving central current tends to deflect and diffuse the air of the more slowly moving currents throughout the area of the chamber, so as to cause a properly distributed body of a1r to flow in contact with all portions of the product situated within the drying chamber. When desired the direction of flow of the respective air currents may be reversed, by

reversing the direction of rotation of the fans. This reverse rotation of the fans may four driving be accomplished by crossing the main driving belt' 19, or in any other suitable manner.

. The control of the air currents, as generated to flow more strongly through certain portions of the. suspended mass of product than through other portions thereof, accord ing as the condition of various part of the mass of product while drying may indicate the need ofsuch co-ntrol and distribution.

As shown in earlier Patent #1,237,874.

I have. employed single centrally located.

large fans, for moving the air within a drying com artment, and my present invention as to tie plurality of fans provides an improvement over this method of considerable importance, since by means of the slower moving outlying fans the air is caused to move through the lateral portions of the interior of the drying chamber much more effectively, and a wider diffusion of such air, thus put in motion, is more readily effected, since the small fan rotated rapidly tends to create an area of central pressure tending to react laterally upon the outlying slow moving currents with the eifect of pressing the same toward the outer lateral imits of the interior of the drying chamber. This novel fan operation in combination with the means for regulating and distributing the points of entrance and exit of air into and out of the chamber, which is comprised in the plurality of independently operatable panels 9 located at the ends of the chamber, provides an exceedingly flexible air'control capable of a wide variety of adjustments according to the conditions and requirements of the process of drying the product under the influence of the air. In other words the process of drying may easily be quickened as to certain desired portions of the whole mass of product within the chamber, while retarded as to the remaining portions of said whole mass, according to need, without removing or disturbing the mass of product until all parts thereof have arrived. at the required dried state. All of which will be apparent to those skilled in the art. of drying dough products, such as macaroni, spaghetti, etc.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 4, 5 and 6 of the drawings, 1 have illustrated therein a modified form of means, which may be employed in place of the swinging panels 9, for controlling the admission and emission of air to and from the drying chamber. In this modified con-- ing a plurality of openings 36. lVhen the movable shutter is raised to its limit of upward movement (as shown in Fig. 5), the solid portions 37 thereof intermediate the openings 86 are positioned over the openings 34 of the fixed shutter 33, thus closing the openings 7 against the passage of air, but when the movable shutter is lowered to its limit of downward movement (as shown. in Fig. 6), the openings 36 thereof are caused to coincide with the openings 34 of said fixed shutter 33, thus uncovering the opening 7 to the passage of air. This structure may be effectively used in place of the panels 9 to secure the same general efiects above described.

,I am aware that some changesmay be made in the arrangements and combinations of the various devices and parts, as well as in the details of the construction of the same, without departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the foregoing specification, and as defined in the claims appended hereto. Hence, I do not limit. my invention to the exact arrangements and combinations of the several devices and parts as described in the foregoing specification, nor do I -confine myself to .the exact details of the construction of the said parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

I claim 1. In an apparatus of the kind described, a. chamber, means for supporting material within said chamber in exposure to the influence of air currents directed therethrough, and means for producing said air currents comprising a central rotatable fan, a plurality of independent outlying rotatable fans surrounding said central fan, said central fan and said outlying fans being mounted to rotate in a transverse plane within said chamber, and transmission means for simultaneously rotating said fans, said transmission means being adapted to rotate said central fan at higher speed than said outlying fans to create a central area of pressure tending to laterally diffuse through the chamber the surrounding slower streams of air from said outlying fans.

2. In an apparatus of the kind described, a chamber, vmeans for supporting material within said chamber in exposure to the in: flnence of air currents directed therethrough, means for producing said air currents comprising a central rotatable fan, a plurality of independent outlying rotatable fans surrounding said central fan, said central fan and said out-lying fans being mounted to rotate in a. transverse plane within said chamber and transmission means for simultaneously rotating said fans, said transmission means being adapted to rotate said central fan at higher speed than said outlying fans to create a central area of pressure tending to laterally diffuse through the chamber the surrounding slower streams of air from said outlying fans, and means connected with the ends of said chamber for controlling and regulating the flow of air to confine such flow to desired points within the limits of the entire end areas of said chamber.

3. In an apparatus of the kind described, a chamber, means for supporting material within said chamber in exposure to the influence of air currents directed therethrough, means fo producing said air currents comprising a central rotatable fan, a plurality of independent outlying rotatable fans surrounding said'central fan, said central fan and said outlyingpgfans being mounted to rotate in a transverse plane within said chamber, and transmission means for simultaneously rotating said fans, said transmission means being adapted to rotate said central fan at higher speed than said outlying fans to create a central area of pressure tending to laterally diffuse through the chamber the surrounding slower streams of air from said outlying fans, and means connected with the ends of said chamber for controlling and regulating the flow of air to confine such flow to desired points within the limits of the entire end areas of said chamber coin,- prisin a plurality of independently operatable hinged panels, said panels in the aggregate closing the entire end areas of said chamber.

at. In an apparatus of the kind described, a chamber, means for supporting material within said chamber in exposure to the infiuence of air currents directed therethrough, and means for producing said air currents comprising a central transversely rotatable fan, a plurality of outlying transversely rotatable fans surrounding said central fan, said outlying fans being larger in diameter than said central fan, transmission mechanism for rotating said central fan, and additional transmission mechanism for simultaneously rotating said outlying fans at slower speed than said central fan.

5. In. an apparatus of the kind described, a chamber, means for supporting material within said chamberin exposure to the in fluence of air currents directed therethrough, means for producing said air currents comprising a central transversely rotatable fan, a plurality of outlying transversely rotatable fans surrounding said central fan, said outlying fans being larger in diameter than said central fan, transmission mechanism for rotating said central fan, additional transm1ss1on mechanism for simultaneously rotating said outlying fans for slower speed a plurality of outlying transversely rotata-- ble fans surrounding said central fan, said outlying fans being larger in diameter than-.-

said central fan, transmission mechanism for rotating said central fan, additional transmission mechanism for simultaneously rotating said outlying fans at slower speed than said central fan, and means connected with the ends of said chamber for controlling and regulating the flow of air to confine such flow to desired points Within the limits of the entire end areas of said chamber comprising a plurality of independently operable hinged panels, said panels in the aggregate closing the entire and areas of said chamber.

' 7. An air circulating mechanism for drying chambers comprising a central rotatable fan, a plurality of independent outlying rotatable fans surrounding said central fan and arranged to rotate in the same plane with the latter, and transmission means be ing adapted to rotate said central fan at higher speed than said outlying fans, to create a central area of air pressure tending to laterally difi'use the surrounding streams of air generated by said outlying fans.

8. An air circulating mechanism for drying chambers comprising a central rotatable fan, a plurality of independent outlying rotatable fans surrounding said central fan and arranged to rotate in the same plane with thesl-atter, said outlying fans being larger in diameter than said central fan,

transmission mechanism for rotating said central fan, and additional transmission mechanism for simultaneously rotating said outlying fans at slower speed than said central fan.

In testimony that I claim the invention set forth above I have hereunto set my hand this 27th day-of December, 1918.

PAUL DE MARTINI. 

